Chip Designer ARM's Profit Beats Expectations

Tuesday, 5 Feb 2013 | 3:54 AM ETReuters

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British chip designer ARM reported a better-than-expected 16 percent rise in fourth-quarter pretax profit as it rode the wave of soaring sales of smartphones and tablets, nearly all of which contain its technology.

The Cambridge-based group licenses its technology to chip makers and receives a royalty on each chip shipped in devices from the likes of Apple and Samsung.

Consumers around the world are increasingly using the Internet on mobile device rather than on PCs that are powered by Intel processors.

"Five years ago an ARM processor could be found in just over a quarter of devices that you could use to browse the internet," finance director Tim Score told reporters on Tuesday.

"Last year, in 2012, three quarters of Internet connected screens and devices used an ARM processor in the main chip."

Shares in the group rose to a 12-year high after it said it would at least meet analysts' expectations for revenue in 2013.

They were trading up 6.3 percent at 948.7 pence by 0822, leading the FTSE 100 index.

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